Reflecting on my post, The Enchanted Week Ahead, I was trying to visualise what I want to achieve but realised my head is very busy. I have all these ideas and experiences, so much that I want to learn and share, and so many tools to research and see how they could help me, but I have no clear idea of what steps to take next. That isn’t like me. I’m an organised person with a love of colour coordinated spreadsheets and really, there’s no reason I can’t be a bit more methodical in exploring my spiritualism than this.

There are things I’d like to explore or adapt. In no particular order, these are:

• Meditation – how do I meditate best?
• Angels – who is who, what do they represent, how would you recognise them? What do the numbers mean?
• My guardian angel(s) – who are they, what do they represent, what are their names, can I hear them or receive their messages? (Have I already?)
• Chakras – clearing them, telling when they’re blocked or open, what’s going on with my throat chakra, how do crystals help?
• Bag for my tarot cards – the oracle cards are in sturdy boxes but the tarot cards are just in a flimsy one. It will end up damaged so I’d like to make myself a bag for them when I get a minute. I think I want it in velvet and a matching alter cloth so perhaps I need to wait until I can find the right thing.
• Tarot de Marseille – I love my deck. I feel like I’m getting the feel for them and my deck as been accurate. I need to learn more. In my head, I want to draw a story arc of the first 10 major arcana that I can use to direct the pip cards. I need to actually look at the second part of the Major Arcana. I need to remember what the 4 suits represent and their sign, and also what the court cards generally represent. I want to learn what the different symbols on the cards tell us. Where I explore a card in depth, I want to record that on the blog so I can check there instead of reinventing the wheel every time. I don’t need to do that all at once, but I have the twinkling of an idea of how I want to structure learning them and I need to grasp that more fully.
• Oracle cards – I want to take the time to learn about the cards in my deck.
• Readings – I have been recording my readings and they’ve all felt true to me but it occurs to me that they would benefit from reflection at the end of the day/the period they were covering. Perhaps I should write the post as I go but not post until the end of its period so that I can see if I got the meaning right or if I picked the wrong aspects for myself. Or perhaps I should just update each post. The only people that would be affected are the people who read the post early, and ultimately I’m doing this for myself.
• Altar – I’d like a nicer space for when I’m using my cards. What should it include? Where will I store it? Does it need statues or icons?
• Candles – what colours for what? When do I use them?
• Incense/essential oils – what are they for, when do I use them?
• Crystals – what does what and, more importantly, how do you use them? What is most important to have?
• Smudge sticks – do I need them? Will they smell bad? What different types are there and which are right for me? What dish do I need to catch any ash and put it out?
• Auras – I’ve always seen a haze. Is that an aura?

I need to think about this list and work out what small steps are right to take next. These things have all appeared on the list because they are all linked. Each one refers to the next until you don’t know which came first. To narrow it down, or just get it in order, I need to get back to basics.

I love reading the cards. I enjoy puzzling & divining their meaning, and reflecting on how that can help me. I want to learn so that in time I can help others. Reading the cards requires a degree of intuition, and I’ve been having some small successes with connecting. The cards tell me I’m on the right path and that I have it in me to be successful. I connect best somewhere around the edges of sleep and waking, so meditation will help too.

The tools and accoutrements like crystals, oils and more candles would all be lovely but they will take time to fully understand what I’m looking for, and aren’t really essential. I do have John’s Buddha and purple patchouli candle already, and those have done very well so far. Of all the things I can do, this doesn’t need prioritised.

Learning about my oracle and tarot cards does require a degree of learning about angels, numerology, and chakras. So as I go along, I can pick up knowledge and tuck it away, but right now is not the time to worry about overloading my head. There will be a time for new focus and I’ll recognise it when it comes.

So for the week ahead, I’m going to take out the cards each day and do a reading from each in various formats – whatever I’m drawn to for that deck on that day. I’ll meditate and continue trying to connect. If that needs me to look up aspects of chakras, then so be it, but I won’t sit down in isolation to study it just now.

Just putting that into writing makes me feel peaceful so hopefully that’s a sign from above. Maybe even from Aaron…